THE SALESIAN COMMUNITY TODAY

INTRODUCTION

[1]

With our gaze fixed on Jesus Christ Our Lord, gathered in prayer around Mary the Mother of Jesus we, the members of the 25^th General Chapter, open to the Holy Spirit and to the gift of communion, want to build our life according to the model of the first apostolic community.

We recognize that we are brought together by listening to the Word of God, by prayer in common, by the Eucharist and by having things in common.¹ We are trying to be a community with “one heart and one soul”, with a meaning for all people, that with its life and words bears witness to the Risen Lord;² a community filled with joy and the dynamism of the Holy Spirit.³

As a fruit of the Jubilee, which celebrated two thousand years of the incarnation of the Son of God, the Pope, in his Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte, invites us to turn our gaze to the person of Christ, to become aware of our vocation to holiness, to be “a house and a school of communion” and to commit ourselves to the new evangelization⁴.

[2]

Prompted by the apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata, we are invited as religious to place ourselves in the forefront of this way of renewal and re-foundation, returning with creative fidelity to the evangelical and charismatic roots that express the real meaning of our vocation in the Church.

In the midst of a pluralistic world, searching for new models for life and meaning, yet marked by dramatic situations of poverty and oppression, consecrated life today can be significant if, like the “house built on the rock”,⁵ it is founded on the unconditional commitment to Jesus Christ, anchored in the evangelical call to holiness, and placed on the frontiers of the Church’s mission.

[3]

In today’s society and culture important new phenomena have arisen which, while they appear to open up new possibilities for human and social development, raise issues about the present models for human and Christian fulfilment. Secularism, which finds room for the sacred in a great variety of religious expressions but pays little heed to the proposal of faith, is constantly gaining ground in many places, Globalization is spreading from the field of economy into other areas in society creating interdependence, but also profound and unjust inequalities, which give rise to new forms of poverty. The birth of multiethnic, multicultural and multireligious societies and the rise of an exclusive nationalism, and of religious integralism are challenges to the capacity for living side by side, for tolerance and dialogue. While science and technology continue to cause amazement by their new conquests, they raise serious questions about respect for life, human dignity and conservation of the environment. Together with pluralism, universally valued so highly today, there is spreading a relativism, an individualism, a variety of points of reference which are disconcerting, especially for the young. Mass communication and the development of information technology are vehicles for new models and new ways of thinking that require careful attention in the field of education.

In such a complex world, in some ways heedless and in others so disturbed, we feel called upon to accept willingly the invitation of the Holy Father to proclaim Christ, especially to the young, as the perennial model for a new humanity.⁶

[4]

The Congregation, prompted by the recent General Chapters is living and experiencing a strong call to renewal in order to manifest its vocation in a clearer and more striking way: to be a school of faith and centre of communion for the education of the young,⁷ and to take up its special task of the animation of the lay people who share the spirit and the mission of Don Bosco, giving life to a new pastoral model.⁸

The quality of the consecrated life in community, the depth of its spirituality, the effectiveness of its witness, its ability to challenge, are the determining factors that give evangelical force to the realization of the Salesian Educative and Pastoral Plan (SEPP), to the presence of the SDB in the Educative and Pastoral Community (EPC) and to the growth of the Salesian Family.

[5]

The GC25 concentrates its attention on three fundamental aspects: fraternal life, evangelical witness, and animating presence among the young. It also considers some conditions: the animation of the salesian community, ongoing formation and the important role of the Rector, and the organization of its life and work. These elements are inseparable and characterize our religious community life.⁹

In looking at each one of these focal points and conditions we have started from “God’s call” that allows us to read the situations in which we find ourselves working, discovering and taking up the principal challenges present in them, so as to be able to propose some lines of action and suggest some appropriate strategies to our provincial and local communities.

[6]

The need for renewal has urged us to draw on the sources of the Gospel and our charism.

We are convinced, in fact, that the Preventive System of Don Bosco still retains its validity today not only as an educative and pastoral method, but also as a source of spirituality and hence as the criterion for our “living and working together”¹⁰. Don Bosco has given it to us as an experience of life that “permeates our approach to God, our personal relationships, and our manner of living in community through the exercise of a charity that knows how to make itself loved.”¹¹ This is and becomes for us a school of holiness and fraternity.

The theme of this Chapter is in this way part of the process begun in the previous Chapters: making clearer and more challenging the power of the salesian religious community in educative and pastoral activity among the young and the poor, becoming centres of animation and of communion in the Salesian Family and the vast Movement that draws inspiration from Don Bosco, deepening the roots of our vocation and renewing the dynamism of fraternal life.

I. FRATERNAL LIFE, GIFT AND PROPHECY OF COMMUNION

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,

to the breaking of bread and the prayers…

the company of those who believed

were of one heart and soul” (Acts 2, 42; 4,32)

A. GOD’S CALL AND THE APPEAL FROM THE YOUNG

[7]

Don Bosco, moved by the Spirit and through the motherly intervention of Mary¹², in communion of life and action with young people, collaborators and the first Salesians, began a powerful experience of family, rich in human and spiritual values, strongly marked by service to the young. We recognize that the first educative service that the young need from us is the witness of a fraternal life that becomes: a response to their profound need for communication, a proposal for a truly human life, a prophecy of the kingdom, an invitation to welcome the gift of God.

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We are also aware that fraternal communion is above all a gift from God in Jesus Christ, as well as a task and the commitment of each one. We make communion visible and we build it up by sharing our life, by fraternal love, and by our participation in the common mission.

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For this reason we commit ourselves to grow in a spirituality of relationships conscious that “God calls us to live in community and entrusts us with brothers to love.”¹³

The family spirit, lived according to the preventive system, involves: cultivating a genuine spirit of faith, living deep interpersonal relationships, growing in mutual esteem and openness, and in the ability to be reconciled and to share with each other.

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Each confrere develops his capacity for relationships, convinced of the close connection between the maturing of the individual and the community. We all feel committed therefore not to neglect whatever helps in the process of individual and community growth.

B. SITUATION

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Reflecting on fraternal life we highlight some positive aspects:

• greater respect for the dignity of the individual, esteem for each other and for the quality of our interpersonal relationships:

• communication is deeper and the sharing of life is appreciated and fostered by the confreres;

• the need for a personal contact with the Word of God and the desire to share the fruits with other confreres;

• enrichment resulting from the sharing of fraternal life with young people and the laity;

• greater contact with the sources of the charism and a clearer knowledge of salesian spirituality which nourish the commitment to building fraternity;

• the “community day” is appreciated and lived with creativity;

• social communication at local, provincial and world level for growing in the feeling of belonging.

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But we are also aware of difficulties:

• some kinds of conflict that are not handled positively, cases of extreme activity that keep confreres away from the community and instances of a weak sense of belonging;

• the situation of confreres who take refuge in compensatory relationships or who search for alternative community or spiritual experiences;

• the existence of communities which in numbers or quality are not consistent, as a result of which fraternal life is difficult to organize;

• discouragement or lack of motivation of some confreres who are discouraged or lacking in motivation, through negative experiences in the past, through difficulties in adapting to their present situation, a falling off in their sense of faith or through personal failings;

• the problems of confreres who differ in age, formation, culture and ethnic origin in living together;

• the situation of elderly or sick confreres who in some cases find it difficult to join in the community life and mission;

• the intrusion of the means of social communication which take time from fraternal community relationships.
  
  

C. CHALLENGES

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The difficulties met with can be reduced to three areas that sometimes exert their influence simultaneously:

• individual choices and ways of life that gradually lead one away from the community;

• an organization of community life that does not encourage the human and vocational development of the confreres, undermining the possibility of “living and working together”;

• interpersonal communication in which an insufficient sharing of the life and mission gradually weakens the sense of belonging and identification with the project of salesian life.

And so we ask:

• How can we foster the processes of the human and vocational development of the confreres in cultural contexts marked by fragmentation, dispersion, relativism and individualism?

• How can we overcome the inertia produced by inadequate relationships that weaken the sense of belonging and undermine the fraternal atmosphere of the community?

• How can we organize community life and activity so as to improve communication and foster personal relationships ?

• What procedures should be introduced to promote the learning and the practice of discernment at both individual and community level, so as to foster fraternal dialogue and sharing?

D. GUIDELINES

In the face of these challenges we propose the following guidelines:

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The Confrere, as the one primarily responsible for his own formation, is invited to give due importance to the “Personal Plan of Salesian life”, bearing in mind the following elements

• a continual evaluation of the human, spiritual, and salesian maturing process, by means of self-assessment procedures, openness to the Word of God and acceptance of fraternal correction;

• knowledge and practice of the spirituality of the preventive system as the source of new relationships in fraternal life;

• the progressive growth in maturity in salesian charismatic identity;

• an active and wholehearted presence at the ordinary and extraordinary meetings of the community ;

• cultivation of openness to others and availability for sharing.

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The Local Community, as the setting for human and vocational growth.

a) It promotes the practice of community discernment in the light of the Word of God and of the Constitutions. To this end it fosters the development of attitudes that encourage its use:

- an openness to the real situation, to living in a spirit of faith and ready to listen;

- a readiness for fraternal dialogue, facilitating and promoting participation by everyone;

- a patient search for convergence of unity and communion.

b) It encourages specific occasions of community life, such as prayer together, meetings, retreats, revision of life, council meetings, times of recreation, community day. In these through suitable arrangements the confreres are helped to:

- express the riches of their own interior lived experience;

- share their own worries and problems, plans and educative and pastoral activities;

- practise listening, dialogue, the acceptance of different opinions and fraternal correction.

c) It draws up the Plan of salesian community life bearing in mind the actual situation of the confreres and emphasizing the aspects of personal formation, communication and communion and of the commitments implied by the Salesian Educative Pastoral Plan.

[16]

The Provincial and his Council, through the provincial formation commission (PFC), will suggest methods and provide helps to draw up the Personal plan of salesian life and the Plan of salesian community life.

“With great power the apostles gave their testimony

to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,

and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4,33)

A. THE CALL OF GOD

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Called by the Father, we follow the Lord Jesus¹⁴ our living rule,¹⁵ by the strength of the Holy Spirit. Enlightened by the mystery of God who is a community of love, we live the following of Christ in communities in which we find the response to the deep aspirations of the heart, we are signs of love and unity for the young¹⁶ and our community life becomes a daily experience of spirituality.

[18]

The first apostolic community, taking its first steps sometimes with difficulty, remains the fundamental point of reference for all our communities. Its joyful witness to the Risen Lord is expressed in the seeking of the Kingdom realized in fraternal service, lived in sharing and communion, announced in the saving proclamation of the Gospel, and celebrated in prayer in common and in the breaking of bread.

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In the same way our communities become a prophecy for the young in generous service, in fellowship, in proclamation and in festivity. Their experience of Church founded on the Word and the Eucharist, becomes the leaven of communion and of new communities, through daily witness to the fullness of life and happiness that stems from the Risen Lord.

[20]

The community of Valdocco, led and guided by Don Bosco, strove to live this witness in a complete and harmonious manner. In the dream of the ten diamonds Don Bosco himself, presenting the salesian identity, outlined its fundamental characteristics and the dangers to which it is exposed. Every community is made up of men, living in society, who express the gospel ardour of “da mihi animas coetera tolle” with the optimism of faith, the dynamic creativity of hope and the kindness and total self-giving of charity. This commitment is sustained by a strong and essential spiritual support characterized in particular by the ascetical practice of the evangelical counsels and by a hard-working and temperate life-style.

[21]

Following Don Bosco’s example, the community testifies to all the educative and pastoral force of consecration by living with joyful enthusiasm its total donation to God and to the young. We find by experience that fidelity to our consecration is a process in constant growth and is expressed in the continual seeking of the gospel ideal, following Mary’s path of faith.

[22]

The context of the present day is marked among other things by secularism, individualism, consumerism and hedonism, but also by a greater sensitivity to what is sacred, by a clearer openness to the transcendent, and a commitment to practical solidarity.

For this reason our communities are called today more than ever in the past to make visible to young people, especially those poorest and most in need, the primacy of God, who has entered our life, won us over and placed us at the service of his Kingdom, as signs and bearers of his love.¹⁷

[23]

Following the obedient, poor and chaste Christ in the radical consequences of Baptism, the community gives free reign to the best energies of its freedom; it contests the idolatry of power, of possession and pleasure, and thus makes itself completely available for the mission to the young. In obedience it seeks the will of God through dialogue and fidelity to the community project and lives and welcomes in a family spirit the service of authority. In poverty it puts all its trust in God, is open to the communion of goods and to solidarity, promoting projects for the benefit of the poor and sharing their condition. In chastity it expresses its love for God and total dedication to the young, with the purity of heart which is the badge characterizing its educative and pastoral mission.

[24]

Sustained by the experience of God and by total dedication to the salvation of the young, the community lives the grace of unity which is a gift of the Holy Spirit and a vital synthesis of union with God and dedication to one’s neighbour, of an interior evangelical life and apostolic activity, of a praying heart and working hands,¹⁸ of personal needs and community commitments. In this way is achieved, in the covenant with God, a harmonious integration of the apostolic mission, the fraternal community and the practice of the evangelical counsels.

[25]

We live this option in the certainty that it contributes to the building of an alternative model for humanity and the human family, in the perspective of Christian hope.

In this way we respond to God’s gift with a personal and community process of holiness towards full maturity in Christ, by means of which we become a sign and prophecy of the ultimate values of the Kingdom of God in the spirit of the Beatitudes.

B. SITUATION

[26]

As a result of recent General Chapters, the communities in general strive to live an ever more authentic salesian spirituality. We may note in fact a growth in:

• the charismatic identity,

• the knowledge and application of the preventive system also among the laity,

• the appreciation of community life,

• assiduous work among young people, especially those at risk,

• the care given to liturgical celebrations and forms of prayer,

• the effort made by many to live the grace of unity by harmonizing fraternal life, prayer and apostolic work.

[27]

Alongside these positive signs of growth, we note also some negative phenomena. These include:

• lack of the community sense of the spiritual life;

• absence at times of community prayer;

• a merely formal observance of the practices of piety;

• reluctance to share spiritual experiences;

• over-efficiency and individualism;

• an unbalanced arrangement of times for work, community life and prayer;

• weariness and discouragement in facing a world in continual change.

[28]

In the practice of the evangelical counsels there are examples of radical and joyful testimony by individuals and communities even to the point of martyrdom.

• Obedience is lived in a spirit of faith and humility by listening to each other’s views and in an effort to put together the community project.

• The seeking for a simpler and more austere lifestyle is made visible in welcoming the poor, in living in contexts of poverty, in solidarity and in transparency in the administration of goods.

• Chastity is manifested in serene self-acceptance, in cordial relationships, in generous availability for service, and in fidelity to a life spent completely for the young.

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At the same time we find that the communities do not always succeed in making their witness perceptible, and we note:

• difficulties in teamwork among Salesians themselves and between Salesians and laity, with authoritarian attitudes;

• the difficulty of some Salesians in changing their work or house;

• disparity of lifestyle between the religious community and the local people, and between one house and another, sometimes with the waste of the goods we have available, through the bad management of the resources at the service of our mission;

• situations of coldness in relationships, the inability to establish authentic relationships, seeking compensations outside the community, and ambiguities of life which compromise the credibility of the choices we have professed.

C. CHALLENGES

[30]

At the root of the situation just described there appear to be the following causes among others::

• weakness in recognizing the primacy of God which leads the community and individual confreres to lose sight of motivations of faith and of the awareness of being consecrated Salesians.

• fragmentation of personal and community life which is seen in the sacrificing of what is important to what is urgent, and the inability to harmonize being and doing, work and prayer, evangelization and education, individual initiative and community planning.

• lack of the prophetic force of our salesian consecration, which obscures its visibility and makes the communities less attractive and appealing in a vocational sense.

To these causes correspond the following challenges:

• How can we keep on reviving and expressing the primacy of God in the communities, and how can we share this spiritual experience with lay people and with the young?

• How can we realize today new personal and community forms of balance between the different aspects of our work so as to live them in the grace of unity and in a complete and harmonious way ?

• How can we make our community witness to the following of Christ something radical, prophetic and attractive?

D. GUIDELINES

To the above-mentioned challenges we want to respond in particular by the application of the following guidelines.

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Primacy of God and the sharing of spiritual experience

The community, following Mary’s example, undertakes to place God as the unifying centre of its being and to develop the community dimension of the spiritual life by:

• fostering the centrality of the word of God in personal and community life through the lectio divina, daily meditation, the Liturgy of the Hours, celebrations of the Word, and community preparation for the Sunday Eucharist;

• celebrating the daily Eucharist with joy, creativity and enthusiasm, and fostering its celebration by all the confreres together at least once a week;

• improving the quality of community prayer to the point where it becomes a school of prayer for the community itself, our young people, the members of the Salesian Family and our lay collaborators;

• promoting revisions of life based on the Constitutions and the essential elements of salesian spirituality;

• encouraging spiritual follow-up by good use of the opportunities dear to our traditions: the Sacrament of Reconciliation, spiritual direction and the fraternal talk;

• creating among the confreres an atmosphere conducive to the exchange of their own experiences of faith;

• encouraging integration between personal and community projects by cultivating their interrelationship and sharing.¹⁹

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Fostering the grace of unity

The community undertakes to ensure the necessary conditions so that every confrere can give a sense of deep unity to his being and working:

• by the practice of evangelical discernment as an attitude of searching for the will of God through community dialogue and coherent decisional and executive processes;²⁰

• by periodically reviewing the balance between work commitments, demands of community life, and times for prayer, study and rest.

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Community witness to the radical following of Christ

The community undertakes to ensure that the evangelical counsels make crystal clear the gratuitous and unconditional offering of life, and measureless and unrestricted love, especially for the very poor:

• by specifying the humanizing values of the evangelical counsels so as to live them with joy and coherence;²¹

• by verifying their community practice by periodic scrutinies; for this purpose the Formations Department will prepare practical guidelines;

• by educating its members to the appropriate use of the means of social communication, including the most recent such as the internet, DVD etc., and periodically assessing their positive and apostolic use.

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Central place of obedience

The community encourages a deep life in the Spirit, the sense of the mission and the effective involvement of every confrere in the community pastoral and educative project by:

• promoting dialogue among its members through community assemblies, the community-day and meetings of the local council, and by availing itself when necessary of the help of external consultants;

• involving all the confreres more effectively in the animating nucleus of the EPC and in the elaboration and application of the SEPP;

• helping the confreres, in choosing their sphere of professional qualification, to respond to the needs of the Province, in dialogue with the Provincial;

• relaunching the practice of the fraternal colloquy with the Rector, the centre of unity and pastoral orientation for all the confreres.

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The concrete nature of poverty

The community undertakes to give witness to a lifestyle inspired by the poverty of Christ and his Gospel by:

• manifesting prophetic austerity through a simple, sober and modest way of living, taking account of the local neighbourhood,²² in assiduous and self-sacrificing work with a readiness to carry out even the most humble tasks;²³

• living a spirit of detachment and of trust in Providence, with transparency in availability and the use of money, and drawing up a budget with frugal criteria;

• making solidarity a regulating principle of its life and activity, with a genuine sharing within the local and provincial communities, and also meeting the needs of other provinces;

• being open to the needs of the young, especially the very poor, putting our life, our time and our structures at their service, and collaborating with persons and organizations committed to social advancement and the struggle for justice.

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The splendour of chastity

The community radiates its witness to chastity and offers it to today’s young people as a prophetic sign of the Kingdom of God and a proclamation of the dignity of every individual by:

• creating a serene, joyful and fraternal environment which encourages the growth of true friendship among the confreres and becomes a sign of the happiness in giving oneself for the Kingdom;²⁴

• aiming at a temperate and laborious lifestyle, nourished by ascesis and willing service, as a practical expression of the boundless love for God and for the young;

• proposing to young people programs of education to love and giving proper value to chastity;²⁵

• laying down at both congregational and provincial level, norms of behaviour to which all confreres must conform, so as to prevent the scandals connected with sexual abuse, taking advantage also of opportune legal and scientific advice;

• offering to the confreres, and especially to those in difficulties, accompaniment, understanding, space for recovery and those steps that may be necessary, even at provincial level;

• committing ourselves to the protection of juveniles, collaborating also with persons and organizations working for the rights of children and of young people who are victims of sexual exploitation.

III. ANIMATING PRESENCE AMONG THE YOUNG

”And now I commend you to God

and to the word of his grace,

which is able to build you up

and to give you the inheritance

among all those who are sanctified”.

(Acts 20, 32)

A. THE CALL OF GOD

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“Whether I am at home or away I am always thinking of you. I have only one wish, to see you happy both in this world and in the next... Being away from you, my dear sons, and not being able to see or hear you, upsets me more than you can imagine… You are always and exclusively in my thoughts”.²⁶ When we Salesians of the Third Millennium read these sentiments of the fatherly heart of Don Bosco once again, we find in them an authentic appeal from God to envisage and bring about, with hope and in fidelity to the “oratorian criterion”²⁷, our presence among the young, a presence that consists in being effectively close to them in participation and follow-up, in animation and witness, and in vocational suggestion in the style of salesian assistance.²⁸

Following in Don Bosco’s footsteps, we want to respond to the call of Jesus to be, in the Church of the present day, a prophetic sign and joyful bearers of the love of the Father for the young.²⁹ God calls us not only to be a community for the young but also with the young, especially “those who are poor, abandoned and in danger”.³⁰ The young people to whom we open our Salesian heart ask us to listen to their requests; they want us in all simplicity and familiarity to throw our doors open and go out to meet them, to share their life by living with them, perceive their values, understand their preoccupations, and offer them opportunities to get involved.

For this reason we strive to prompt and respond to young people’s search for meaning: we aim to become a school of life that raises questions and gives reasons for hope, that lives and celebrates the presence of the Risen Christ, that communicates its own experience of faith and forms disciples, and that accompanies them as they grow to the point where they “develop their own human and baptismal vocation by a daily life progressively inspired and unified by the Gospel”.³¹

Animated by the charity of the Good Shepherd,³² and with Mary as our Mother and Teacher, we seek with confidence a common educative and pastoral project and a methodology that can instill education with Gospel values and pay more attention to the processes of education than to activities, to persons rather than to structures, to fraternity rather than to functions.

Our zeal for God and for the young moves us to become a “home and school of communion”.³³ We live a vocation that radiates joy and fosters participation and is able to muster numerous apostolic forces with which to share Don Bosco’s spirit and mission in the local Church and neighbourhood:. the lay collaborators of the EPC, the groups of the Salesian Family, and our more committed young people.

B. SITUATION

[38]

Wherever there is a salesian community, there is a gift of God: an experience of faith, a network of relationships and multiple forms of service to the young.

The community gives visibility to the salesian presence, animates it and promotes its growth. Even though it is not possible to identify the mission with the work, the salesian presence among the young gives shape to a work and can be expressed in it.

The presence expresses a progressive capacity for welcoming acceptance and communion, a commitment to education and evangelization, and a method for follow-up and vocational discernment.

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A presence that welcomes and builds communion

The need is recognized of being present among young people in the style typical of the preventive system, even in those communities where the number of confreres is small and which are marked by aging or illness. Often however organizational and management concerns cause some confreres, in fact, to remain remote from the young. Moreover there are some who through their personal projects or convenience are drawing apart from the youth situation.

In the communities positive attention is given to the new and old forms of poverty affecting young people, but there are also signs of an attachment to the past, defensive attitudes in facing present and future, insufficient sensitivity to the new forms of poverty, and a lack of proper training to deal with marginalization – though in this field we are present to a greater extent today than in the preceding six years.

The salesian community, more convinced of its charismatic task in the animating nucleus, has given rise to new forms of lay involvement, especially through the formation and animation of the EPC, collaboration with volunteers and the elaboration of the SEPP. There is also an improved sensitivity as regards the Salesian Family, but the need is recognized for a greater sharing in responsibility for a more effective sharing of the mission.

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A presence that educates and evangelizes

The effort to evangelize meets with a favourable response today because of the resources possessed by young people, and especially because of their quest for inner depth, their particular openness to new values, and the many different forms of service in the volunteer movement. At times, however, the effect of our work is weakened by the community failing to live a deep spiritual experience with clear reference to evangelical motivations and genuine pastoral charity.

Furthermore, it is observed that relationships today tend to be fleeting and lacking in depth. The number of possibilities of communication does not always correspond to the quality of relationships: this also affects the relationships between the salesian community and the young.

There is also the danger that the mission may be identified with the works, and the latter with structures and services. The young then find it difficult to perceive the community as an alternative form of life, a challenge to what society offers and a concrete prophetic statement of the future.

In many places our presence has a positive social, political and cultural impact, even if sometimes our educational and social work does not attain the hoped for results. There are communities that find it difficult to harmonize community life with an open understanding of mission that could lead to responses to new problems and the planning of new forms of service.

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A presence that accompanies and broaches the subject of vocation

In recent years action and reflection have given rise to vocational planning at both local and provincial levels; greater attention has been given to methods of formation; there has been a greater involvement of young people in groups and in the Salesian Youth Movement. We have not always known how to involve the family as the primary setting for vocational growth.

There is a greater attentiveness to all vocations in the Church and in the Salesian Family in particular, and the conviction that a true youth pastoral work always has a vocational aspect.

We realize that our settings abound in vocation potential and resources, but there is still the difficulty of presenting and conveying the meaning of life as a vocation and mission, and the fatigue of personal guidance for the young. We Salesians always have the priority obligation of bearing witness to the vocation of consecrated apostles in its double and complementary lay and priestly form³⁴.

The social and cultural situations, the present structure of some of our works, and a certain spiritual weariness on the part of some SDBs and communities account for a weakening of the life of faith and of the processes connected with the formation and the vocation of the young, and also for the fall in numbers referred to by many provincial chapters.

The salesian communities of today want to continue the spirit of the community of Don Bosco and the first Salesians. For us the community is a real home where in a fraternal atmosphere we support each other in the process of personal and vocational growth at the different stages of life. Community life is formative in itself.

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The situation manifests the following positive aspects:

In many communities the confreres show themselves to be open to formation and to change. The desire for vocational growth is fulfilled:

• in mutual brotherly love, in understanding and acceptance of one another; in community prayer, in collaboration in the drawing up and carrying out of the common project, in dialogue;

• in special occasions such as the provincial and community assemblies, community day, the monthly and quarterly days of recollection, retreats.

Some particular sensitivities that contribute to formation are:

• responsibility for one’s own human and spiritual development;

• the ability to share with the confreres one’s own personal life;

• attention to the human and affective dimension of the individual;

• the desire not only to educate young people, but also to learn from them;

• a planning mentality that leads to ever greater involvement;

• commitment to inculturation and insertion in the social and ecclesial context.

In different parts of the Congregation there is a positive assessment of the ministry of the Rector and some conditions that help him to exercise it:

• his role as a man of unity and fraternity;

• his ability to lead the community along the lines of renewal and of response to the problems in the world today in accordance with the teaching of the Church and the guidelines of the Congregation;

• care by the Provincials and their councils and the participation of the confreres in the selection of Rectors;

• the preparation of the Rector for his ministry;

• personal guidance offered to the Rector by the Provincial.

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Some communities complain about difficulties and uncertainties due to:

• the effects of modern culture also marked by aspects of secularism, relativism, hedonism and individualism;

• a weakening in faith reflected in the abandonment of prayer, of the daily celebration of the Eucharist and of the sacrament of reconciliation, in the interpretation of the events of life and history on the basis of non-evangelical criteria, in a falling off in zeal for evangelization;

• human immaturity and psychological weakness; superficiality in relationships, insufficient communication and dialogue;

• little collaboration between confreres and their insufficiency in number and quality, lack of coordination between the different roles in the community and in the mission; inadequate distribution of tasks; lack of balance between work, study and prayer;

• the inability of the confreres to help each other in their development and in their difficulties, and the lack of mutual help through fraternal correction;

• the crisis of the “friendly chat” with the Rector;

• insufficient attention given to young confreres and to those in initial formation;

• lack of continuity between initial and ongoing formation;

• the multiplicity of the tasks of the Rector and the failure to prioritize them that limit his ability to devote time and energy to the service of the confreres; the absences, sometimes frequent, of the Rector from the community;

• the tendency for the Rector to do things himself rather than get others to do them;

• in some cases his inadequate preparation.

C. CHALLENGES AND GUIDELINES

1. THE COMMUNITY: THE SETTING FOR FORMATION AND ANIMATION

Challenges

[55]

An analysis of the situation indicates many challenges among which the following seem to be the main ones:

• What attitudes need to be fostered to bring about an effective change of mentality and openness to renewal?
  
  

• Under what conditions is it possible to ensure and improve the commitment of all the confreres to ongoing formation ?

• What are the salesian experiences that should be given a special place and fostered in order to enrich formation in community?
  
  

• How can sufficient importance be given to everyday living in its formation aspect?

guidelines

The following are suggested as a response particularly to the present challenges and future perspectives.

[56]

Improve the commitment of the whole community to formation by:

• enabling the confreres in initial formation to acquire the necessary convictions and attitudes for ongoing formation;

• involving all the confreres in those processes that foster analysis, dialogue, research. community planning, systematic evaluation of the life and activity of the community;

• encouraging and guiding each confrere in the commitment to his own formation through a personal project of life.

.

[57]

Give greater emphasis to some areas of formation:

• human maturity, especially affective maturity;

• Christian and salesian vocational identity;³⁷

• understanding and appreciation of the preventive system as the way to salesian holiness;

• the ability to work in a team, also with lay people, and to draw up projects and identify procedures;

• a sound knowledge of the cultural context and of the youth situation for the inculturation of evangelical values and of the salesian charism.

[58]

Give due importance to everyday life by:

• animating the community to a spirituality of communion³⁸ as a prerequisite for all collaboration and sharing;

• involving all the resources of the community in view of the common mission;

• fostering the development of religious identity through community occasions, and in particular the planning and evaluation meetings, community assemblies, community days;

• helping the confreres to find the right time and rhythms to overcome excessive activity and superficiality, and carefully planning times for study, for personal reading, community reflection, sharing, prayer, recreation and rest.

[59]

To achieve all this it is proposed that:

At world level

The General Councillor for Formation and his team:

• continue to present in an appropriate manner and to give due weight to the new Ratio;

• coordinate and strengthen the national and international centres of ongoing formation;

• promote the appreciation of the salesian places for opportunities for formation, also for the different cultural and language groups.

[60]

At provincial level

• The provincial commission for formation draws up an annual program for ongoing formation, giving special attention to the affective area and to the ability to form interpersonal relationships;

• The delegate for formation coordinates the specific programs to respond to the needs of the different groups of confreres, not neglecting the sick and the elderly, to help them to live their condition with serenity and a spirit of faith;

• The Provincial with his council draws up the provincial plan for the qualification of personnel, in harmony with the formation commission and in dialogue with the confreres. The necessary weight should be given to studies of philosophy, pedagogy, theology, salesianity, and to professional and academic studies;

• Each Province should make arrangements for and encourage the possibility of drawing on the sources of our spirituality;

• Where it is judged appropriate, houses for initial formation can be available for and support the ongoing formation of other confreres and members of the Salesian Family, and lay collaborators;

• Confreres in practical training, Brothers who have just finished initial formation and priests in the first years of their pastoral ministry should be sent to communities where there are confreres in sufficient number and of the right quality who are capable of guiding them in their development;

• To the confreres should be offered suitable periods of time for renewal and spiritual experiences that will sustain them at different stages of life;

• From the beginning of formation the confreres should be trained in different forms of cooperative learning.

[61]

At community level

• As the basis of formation are still to be found: daily celebration of the Eucharist, the sacrament of Reconciliation, the Liturgy of the Hours, meditation, devotion to Mary Help of Christians and the saints of the Salesian Family, and other forms of prayer;

• The lectio divina, personal and in community, is to be fostered as a means of growth in the life of the community; and a “school of prayer” for the confreres, the lay people and the youngsters, particularly during the special periods of the liturgical year;

• Great value should be attached to the community day, and the various community meetings. These occasions are to be well prepared and planned, so as to be effective means for spiritual growth and for the sharing of personal experiences;

• Community planning flows from the involvement of all the confreres so that it is truly shared and regularly evaluated;

• Because of its formative value, individual communities will put into practice everything that they consider useful in order to safeguard, reorganize and furnish their libraries and documentary archives.

[62]

At personal level

• The confrere will give priority to times for prayer, personal reflection and retreat, to the community day and to meetings for planning and evaluation.

• He will give due value to both personal and community spiritual direction.

• With the help of the human sciences he will develop the capacity for self-knowledge and self-esteem.

• His personal plan of life³⁹ can become part of his friendly chat with the Rector.

2. THE RECTOR: ANIMATOR OF THE COMMUNITY

[63]

In the current situation the challenges for an adequate exercise of the ministry of the Rector are varied and among them the following seem the most relevant:

• How to help the Rector so that in the community he can be not only a man of government and the one ultimately responsible for the activities but above all a father, guide, brother and friend ?
  
  

• How to assess that the necessary conditions exist for the Rector to be able to carry out his mission in an appropriate manner?
  
  

• How to prepare a confrere adequately to assume the role of Rector ?
  
  

• How to help the confreres to recognize in faith the role of the Rector and to support him in his service ?
  
  

[64]

Now many signs and wonders were done among the people

by the hands of the apostles.

And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. (…)

And more than ever believers were added to the Lord,

multitudes both of men and women

(Acts 5, 12. 14)